The European Data Protection Board (EDPB), which unites the national privacy watchdogs of the European Union, announced on Thursday that it has established a task force to tackle the issue of ChatGPT. This marks a major step toward a single policy that will dictate the privacy rules concerning artificial intelligence (AI).
The actions of the EDPB come in the wake of Italy’s unilateral regulations imposed on ChatGPT. This has emboldened Germany’s commissioner for data protection, who indicated that similar regulations might be applied in Europe’s largest economy. The Spanish watchdog, AEPD, has also opened an inquiry into data violations related to ChatGPT.
ChatGPT has exploded in popularity in the last year, with more than one hundred million monthly active users. However, it has raised its fair share of questions on the topic of security, privacy, and job displacement.
The purpose of the task force is not to punish OpenAI, the company that owns ChatGPT and is affiliated Microsoft Corp. Instead, the goal is to come to a more unified policy that is consistent, transparent, and understandable. During the body’s meeting, experts shared various opinions and perspectives in regards to ChatGPT and AI regulation. This was instigated by a request from the Spanish authority to discuss the topic.
OpenAI is an AI research organization founded by the likes of Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. It is active in researching and developing artificial general intelligence that can think and act beyond human capabilities. The company’s mission is to ensure that AI benefits humanity as a whole.
The person mentioned in this article is Sam Altman, one of the co-founders of OpenAI. He is an American entrepreneur, author and investor and currently serves as the chairman of OpenAI. He previously served as the president of Y Combinator, a seed accelerator, from 2014 to 2019. As an investor, he has been involved with a number of prominent startups, including Reddit, Stripe and Airbnb. Altman is well-known for his work in the fields of artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotics.